Survival Instincts
by twiXlite
Summary: Halloween Special! What do you do when your car tyre blows? Look for help, of course. But what happens when the one you think can help you turns it into a game where its run or die? Can Edward survive the deadly game or will he fall to the rules? AH/AU
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the characters but I own the plot.**_

_**WARNING: There are graphic details within this one shot, so if you're under the age of 18 or have a weak stomach I strongly suggest you don't read it! Close the window and turn away from your computer, now.**_

_**Gone?**_

_**Good.**_

_**Anyways, on with the story.**_

_**Survival Instincts**_

I closed my eyes hoping it would make this ridiculous car journey home pass faster. I mean, who goes to a party an hour away and then drives home afterwards? Especially when the majority of your passengers are drunk.

"James?" I internally groaned as Lauren leaned forward, her hair spilling onto my shoulder as she looked at our driver expectantly. "How much longer?"

"Five minutes less than the last time you asked, Lauren." He sighed, his frustration evident. Well, to everyone but Lauren, that is.

"So how long is that?" She fell back onto the backseat in between Mike and Jessica, who both scowled at her. Personally, I think it was because she was sat in between them, than the fact she was sat there making noise and whining. Little did they know, she had actually been strategically placed there for the sole purpose of stopping them from making out. It looked like Tyler and Eric had either passed out or fallen asleep in the very back of the car. Either way, they weren't making noise, so who cared?

How James convinced his mom to let him use her seven seater I don't know, but it worked.

No one answered her question, which caused her to huff and fold her arms across her chest. If it got her to shut the hell up then I was all for it.

I rested my head on the headrest of my seat, blowing a breath out of my nose and looking out the window. I wishing I had brought my iPod with me to pass the time. I was going to originally bring it with me but I had reasoned with myself that it would most likely get lost at the party. Either that or stolen. So it was now sat on my bed, waiting for my return. That is if my brother hasn't helped himself to it again. Closing my eyes, I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep for the remainder of the drive, hoping I would be able to do so as long as everyone remained quiet. Sleeping on long journeys had never been a problem for me but sleeping with incessant chatter was.

Apparently, though, the car had other ideas as a loud bang sounded and the scar swerved slightly before James managed to regain control and pull over.

"What the hell was that?" Ah, Eric and Tyler had woken up. I turned to look at the both of them, laughing as I took in their shell-shocked expressions.

"Tire blew." James sighed, undoing his seatbelt. "Wanna help me, Ed?"

"Might as well." I sighed, following him and climbing out of the car. "Holy shit, its cold!"

"It's October. What the fuck do you expect, man?" James laughed, popping the trunk of the car. "Find the tire, man." He made his way around the car, finding which one had blown. He shouted and told me that it was the front driver's side tire.

"Alright, but you've got to get the other out of the car." He froze, not having anticipated that. "We can't change the tire with all that extra weight in the car." He shook his head, knowing I was right before turning around and moving to the side of the car, opening the door and yelling at the others to get out. "James?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's the tire?" I'd lifted up the bottom of the trunk, where the spare tire was usually stored. Where it _should_ have been and found absolutely nothing. The jack was there and everything we needed was in there.

Well, everything except the tire.

"In the trunk, man." He came back around, stopping when he saw that there was no tire in there. "What the fuck? Why didn't she fucking tell me there was no spare?"

I sighed, closing my eyes as I heard the others whining about the cold as they climbed out of the car.

"Relax, man." Tyler had joined the two of us, shivering slightly. I didn't blame him, it was fucking freezing. The wind was really trying to attack us and I guess we were just lucky it wasn't raining. Now that would have made the night perfect.

What with it being Halloween and everything, right?

"We can just call a tow, right?" Eric suggested and we all nodded, conceding that we could get out of this on our own. We needed a tow to get us to the nearest town.

James pulled out his cell, cursing when he said that he had no reception. He looked at me and I pulled out mine, shaking my head, silently telling him I didn't have any either. He yelled out at the others who all took their out their phones, shouting that they didn't have anything either.

"So a tow is out of the question." He leaned against the car, shaking his head.

"Well, why don't we get back into the car to save us from freezing our nuts off – females members of the party excluded from the nuts bit of course." Tyler suggested and we all agreed. There was no point in us standing out in the cold and the wind when we had the chance to stay warm. "So . . ."

"What the hell do we do now?" I sighed, asking everyone's silent question as I turned in my seat to look at the rest of them. They all nodded, agreeing with my words.

"Well, there's nothing we can do." James ran his hands through his hair at his own words, shaking his head and closing his eyes. "I guess we just gotta wait."

"For what?" I looked at him, wondering what hell we were supposed to wait for. Maybe he wasn't as sober as I'd thought he was before we'd left the party. "What? You think that another car is just going to drive through here at . . . 2AM? James, you can't be serious."

"We drove through here, didn't we?" He shot back, staring straight back at me. "It's either that or we wait until it gets light out and we can walk until someone gets reception."

"Whatever." My parents were going to be pissed, that's for sure. There wasn't really much we could do about it though. It's not as if I could call my mom to let them know I would be home.

"I told you we should have stayed at the motel down the road from the party." Jessica mumbled and I knew exactly where this was going.

Jessica and Lauren had wanted to stay at the small motel that was just down the road from the house the party was being held was. I would be lying if I hadn't agreed with them. It seemed ridiculous to me for us to drive an hour away for a party just to leave earlier than everyone else so we didn't get home too late. Fuck school in the morning, who really cared? I mean, it wasn't as though they could do much about it, if we weren't in, we weren't in. And from the looks of it, we weren't going to be in anyway.

The others had wanted to crash at the house but James and Eric had wanted to get home. James, obviously because he had his moms car and she would have murdered him if he didn't have it back by the time the school run came round in the morning.

Having six children is a bitch, am I right?

Eric just wanted to get back to his girlfriend, Angela. She couldn't come tonight as her mom had forced her to take her twin brothers trick-or-treating. She had wanted to come with us but there wasn't really any way she could have considering we were filled to the max as it was.

Not wanting to stick around for this argument, I opened the door, climbing out of the car.

"Where you going?" James shouted, ignoring Jessica as he looked at me, confused.

"Gotta take a leak." I shouted back before slamming the door shut.

We weren't that far away from a small wood, so that meant I could relieve myself with some level of privacy. Walking through the woods, I looked back making sure I could still see the car. The last thing I wanted was to lose the car and my friends and then spend hours wandering around trying to find them again.

And knowing me, that would happen.

I looked up after zipping up my jeans and noticed something that had escaped my attention before.

A light.

I looked back at the car before coming to the conclusions that if it helped us get the fuck out of here, and I could find my way back to the car without any trouble then what harm could a little investigating do?

I carefully made my way through the trees, towards the light, turning every so often to make sure I hadn't wandered so far that I had lost the car. Not something I wanted to do.

I came to the edge of the wood, a large grin spreading across my face as I saw a house standing about half a mile or so away from where I was at this very moment. There was a light shining from the top floor, so I came to the conclusion that there had to be someone living there, right? I mean, there wouldn't be an abandoned house with lights on in the middle of nowhere, would there?

Well, maybe in a horror movie, but this was reality. Things like that just don't happen in real life.

I turned around and raced back to the car, nearly falling over and landing on my face a couple of times before I came back to the car. I could hear them yelling on the inside. I could hear Jessica and Lauren practically screaming at the others that if we had stayed there, we wouldn't be in this mess now.

I thought I had been longer than I had.

I yanked open the door to find six scared looking teenagers staring back at me. I had to hold back a laugh at their expressions because honestly, they looked hilarious.

"Jesus, Edward!" James looked like he was having a heart attack. He glared at me for a moment before chuckling, shaking his head and letting out a breath. "We were about to send out a search party for you."

"Before or after you finished your argument?" I shot back as I climbed into the car.

The glare returned for a moment before he let it go. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Finding our way out of here." I grinned triumphantly as I warmed my hands up using one of the small heaters James still had running. At least, if we had to stay out here we had some warmth. It might drain the gas and the car battery but that was better than freezing to death, right? They all looked at me, confused. "Just on the other side of those woods, about half a mile away is a house. With lights."

"You serious?" James asked, a grin spreading across his face.

"As a heart attack." I replied, feeling incredibly smug about my discovering as the car erupted into cheers, including James wrapping an arm around my neck, shouting "Way to go, Eddie!" and planting a kiss on my forehead. I pushed away from him giving him a warning look. "First off, _never_ do that again." He shrugged, grinning at me, obviously too happy to have a chance at getting back home tonight to care. "Now, let's go. I figure we can ask to borrow a phone, call a tow and then I can call my parents who can call yours."

I knew that calling my parents would be the safest bet seeing as they were the most understanding. James's mom would probably rip him a new one for busting the tire. But then again, if she had put a new spare in the car in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess.

We all climbed out of the car, wrapping our arms around ourselves, shivering slightly with the wind and everyone followed me towards where I had seen the light and consequentially, the house.

"I see it," Eric laughed as we neared the edge of the wood.

There was a narrow lane leading up to the house that was probably wide enough for one car to drive down. Judging from the state of the lane, I'd say it wasn't used very often, considering it was overgrown and unlevel. We had a hard time staying upright as we manoeuvred our way across the stray stones and flints in our path. It seemed that the others had sobered up pretty quickly as we walked, the cold air bringing them back to their senses.

It took us a little while, but we eventually made it to the front gate of the house. Actually, standing there in front of it, it looked kind of creepy.

"I'm not so sure about this anymore, you guys." Jessica said in a small voice. She was partially hiding behind Mike as she stared wide eyed at the building in front of us. I looked at Lauren to see that she was doing the same with Tyler. It was as if the two of them could read my mind in being wary of the house in front of us.

Standing right in front of it, I could see that there was more than just the top floor light on. There were dim lights on all across the house.

Well, I say house.

Mansion was more like it.

It looked like it could easily fit the entirety of our small home town into it. Seriously . . . no joke.

"Come on, you guys." Tyler pushed the gate open, causing all of us to flinch with the loud squeak that came from it. The thing needed oiling, desperately. Another clue showing us that there probably weren't many visitors to this place.

Can't think why.

He turned to look at the rest of us, waiting for us to follow. "We go in, ask to use the phone, depending on their answer, we either use it and then head back to the car or we just head back to the car and wait till morning. Simple."

We all looked at each other, coming to the conclusion of 'in and out in five minutes' without having to say a word. I think the creepy feeling this house seemed to emanate had reached everyone and none of us were particularly excited about having to go up to the door in search of a phone.

James took out his cell, checking for reception. I guess he was hoping there might be some here but he let out a breath, shaking his head before putting it back in his pocket. Still nothing.

Crap.

We made our way up the path towards the house before stepping onto the porch. It was dimly lit, a simple bulb resting in a holder just above the door. It only added to the unpleasant feeling of the house. We looked at each other, silently asking who was going to knock.

"Edward found the house." Eric suggested and I glared at him. Apparently, the others seemed to agree with his and had voted me to be the one to knock on the door.

I let out a breath as I reached out and grabbed the large knocker that rested on the door. It was heavy, probably made of iron or something like that and stiff, probably not having been used in a long time. I stood back, having bashed it against the door a couple of times.

After what seemed like an eternity, the door creaked open and a small face appeared. It was a girl. Not someone I expected to see in a place like this. I had been expecting an Igor type person to answer, or someone like that creepy guy in Rocky Horror. Not this small girl. She was tiny, pale, with bright blue eyes which widened upon seeing us standing there in front of her. She started to shake her head and open her mouth to say something but she stopped as a voice sounded behind her.

"My dear Mary Alice, let's not be rude." It was a dull and bored voice that echoed from behind the girl.

"Yes, Master Marcus." She said softly, her voice light and sounding like the ringing of small bells as she looked towards the ground as he made an appearance.

He was tall, towering over the girl at what seemed to be almost twice her size. It probably wasn't that much, but she was so tiny, especially with her head bowed the way it was. No wonder she looked frightened of him. His black hair was limp, thin and hung around his face, gently brushing his shoulders as he moved. He was pale, which was not uncommon for this area, but he looked gaunt, rather than just pale. It was as though someone had sucked the essence out of him. Weird. His eyes were lifeless as he looked at us, waiting for someone to say something.

Evidently, I had been nominated as speaker for the group as well.

"Hi," I said pathetically, wondering what the hell to say. "Um, our car broke down not far from here and we were wondering if it's not too much trouble, if you had a phone we could use to call a tow."

"But of course." He smiled at us. I was sure it was supposed to come off as a friendly smile but it came out as being incredibly creepy. It was a smile I didn't fully trust but I also didn't know if there was another house anywhere near here. We didn't have much choice. "Do come in." He waved at the girl, who looked at us wide-eyed, clearly confused and debating whether she should tell us to leave before slamming the door in our faces or whether to obey her master.

I hated that term. 'Master.' It sounded like she was his slave or something.

Well, from the way her head was bowed and her body language with him there, she might have been.

Evidently, her loyalty to him won out as she opened the door wider, allowing us to pass. She looked at the seven of us, her eyes panicked and her breathing slightly heavy as we passed her before she closed the door, the hollow thud echoing through the expansive entrance hall in front of us.

"Thanks for this," I said quietly, making sure I kept close to the others. "We can wait back at the car, so we won't be in your way for long."

"Nonsense," He turned around, looking at us with a shocked look on his face. "I'm not about to let you children back out in that." He gestured to the window and I saw that in the last few moments, it had started to rain. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

_One hell of a creepy one,_ I thought and judging by the looks of the others, I'd say they were all thinking the same thing.

"I'm sure you're all pretty cold." He turned again, gesturing for us to follow him. "Why don't you all come in and warm up by the fire and I'll have Mary Alice make you some tea."

I looked at the others, who were watching me. I shrugged, not knowing what to do or say. Since when had I become the decision maker of the group? Normally, that was James's role.

Not really knowing what else to do we followed him into an extravagant looking sitting room, filled with armchairs and sofas, surrounding an enormous fireplace.

Not wanting to be rude, we sat down, feeling rather uncomfortable as he disappeared through the door he had led us through, stating he would be back in a few minutes. The young girl came back a few minutes later with a tray in her hands, placing it on the coffee table in front of us.

"You need to leave." She whispered harshly, looking behind her quickly before turning and staring straight at me. "Forget the phone, forget the wind. It's much more preferable to what you will find within these walls." She straightened up and started to leave the room. "Go. Now."

With that she turned and left the room, leaving us all a bit bewildered and not having one single clue about what to do.

"What the hell was that about?" Eric asked, looking towards where she had disappeared.

"I don't know." I shook my head, her words lingering in my ears. She had sounded desperate for us to leave. Scared for us, even. Why would she sound that way without justifiable cause? "But I think we should listen to her."

"Aw, is little Eddie getting scared?" Tyler laughed as I glared at him. He found my reaction even funnier. SO what if I was a little freaked out? I had every right to be, right?

"I agree with Edward, you guys." Lauren said quietly as she curled into Tyler's side. "This place gives me the creeps."

"It's starting to freak me out as well." Eric added, looking around. "I mean, where the hell is he?" I looked at my watch, seeing that it had been about twenty minutes since he had left us in here. Eric was right. Where was he? He said we could use his phone right? I looked at Mike and Jessica to find they were nodding along. They wanted out of here as well.

"Alright, who's for saying 'fuck the phone' and heading back to the car and waiting it out till morning"? James asked and we all nodded, abandoning the untouched tea that was still sitting on the coffee table. I don't think any of us really trusted this place.

We made our way through the house, quietly heading for the front door. We didn't want to make any noise that would alert the creepy due to our movement. All we needed was for him to investigate what we were doing. Not part of the plan.

We all practically ran towards the front door, all eager to get out of this house and James practically launched himself at it, grabbing the handle and yanking it. We all expected it to open. Yes we might have been met with cold wind and rain but, as the girl had said, that was preferable to being in here.

Nothing happened.

He tried a couple more times only to have the same result. The handle moved, but the door didn't.

"Um, you guys see any deadbolts or anything?" He asked as we looked to the top and bottom of the door and along the sides.

Nothing.

I grabbed the handle along with James and we both put all the strength we possessed into pulling that door open. It was a standard issue door handle and we didn't see any other locks, so it should have opened or at least moved, right?

It didn't budge a millimetre.

We looked at each other, confused before turning back to face the rest of the group. They had all gone pale, staring at us with wide eyes. I wasn't ashamed to say I was starting to panic a little and from the looks of the others, they were all right there with me. I had two thoughts running through the forefront of my mind and from the looks of the others, I was sure they were thinking along the same lines as me.

One) We should have listened to the girl sooner than we did.

Two) We were locked in.

"What the fuck do we do now?" James turned to look at all of us and I felt the dread rising in my stomach as I looked around.

"There's got to be another way out of here." I suggested and they all looked at me, clearly wondering what I was on. "What? We obviously can't use this door and there's no telling when Mr Loon-Who-Decides-To-Invite-Teenagers-Into-His-House-And-Then-Lock-Them-Inside is going to reappear. I _really_ don't want to be around when he does. There has got to be another way in and out of this house. Do you really believe that this door is the only door in and out of a house of this size?"

They all nodded and we looked around, seeing that there were quite a few different directions we could take.

"Why don't we split up and try and find a way out of here?" Tyler suggested before Jessica gasped, shaking her head quickly. The look on her face was one of absolute terror. "What? That way we can find a way out quicker than we would if-"

"Have you _never _seen a horror movie?" Jessica snapped at Tyler in a harsh whisper. "If there's one thing you learn from those movies it's to _never_ split up. That's how they pick you off."

"Jess, this isn't a horror movie." I said softly, trying to calm her down.

"It has that feel to it though, doesn't it?" She looked at me, her eyes wide with fear. "I mean, how often does some creepy old guy invite seven teenagers into his house on the pretence of letting them use his phone and then disappear? And that girl. What about what she said? That we should get out of here while we can? That doesn't sound good to me. Can't we just stay together? Please?"

Lauren was nodding along to everything Jess was saying and I looked at the guys. "It does make sense for us to stay together. I mean, even if we did split up," Jess made a little squeak at my words and I raised a hand to let her know it was okay, "_if_ we split up and one of us finds a way out, how the hell are we going to let the others know? It's not like our cell phones are working. There's no damn reception."

"Alright," James ran his hands through his hair, cursing quietly. "We stay together. Which way do we go first?"

I looked around; hoping some kind of inspiration would come to me. "Well, the most logical place for a door to be would be at the back of the house, right?" They all nodded and I let out a breath. "To me, that way," I pointed towards a hallway that led directly away from the front door, "would seem like the most logical explanation."

After a moment or two, we started to move down the hallway, our steps measured and quiet. We had no idea what the hell was going on and why the creepy motherfucker had locked the front door so we couldn't get out. Maybe that was what he was trying to do.

Trap us.

But I couldn't think why.

What the hell did he have to gain from keeping us locked in here? Unless Jess was right and this was his sick and twisted version of an at home horror movie. There's not really someone sick enough in this world to terrorise and harm kids though, is there?

I fucking hoped not.

The hallway seemed to go on forever before we finally emerged into a room that seemed like a kitchen. I let out a breath when I saw a door on the other side of the room. Tyler made his way across the room, the rest of us in tow as he grabbed the door handle. He pulled on it and like the front door it didn't budge. He turned back to us, a look of defeat on his face. The door was a solid wooden door, no glass or anything in it, as you would expect from a kitchen door. There was no telling what kind of wood it was made out of but there were no doubts in my mind that it was thick. As he looked at us, the look on his face turned to one of confusion and I wondered what the hell he was looking at.

"Where's Mike?"

We all turned, looking for Mike and finding nothing. Jessica started whimpering and I couldn't help but wonder how she hadn't noticed he wasn't there. I looked at her and she shook her head.

"He was behind me." She whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. I made my way out into the hallway to look for him. "Edward, don't!"

I heard them following me as I walked out, seeing nothing. Where the hell had he gone? "Mike?" I called, getting no answer. "Mike!" I ran my hands through my hair, not getting a response before I turned back to the others. "Nothing. He's gone."

"Shit." Yeah, Eric. Shit!

"What the fuck are we gonna do?" Lauren asked and I knew she was scared. She never swore. She might have been pissed drunk in the car on the way back but that was a rarity for Lauren. She wasn't the blonde bimbo everyone thought she was. She was incredibly intelligent for a matter of fact but for some reason, she played it down. I wasn't sure why and I sure as hell wasn't going to ask her now. She didn't really like to go out and get pissed with everyone else, preferring to stay in with her little sister, Molly. I think that it may come from the fact that she had never really known her mother and was trying to provide Molly with some kind of stable support system for her, considering her father was never around and her step-mother was a complete bitch.

That might have been why she was such an annoying drunk. Purely because she didn't drink very often. She must have had an extremely low tolerance for alcohol. Not that I blamed her, there were times when I couldn't stand the stuff as well. Not that I ever passed up the chance to go out but . . .

I digress.

"We gotta find Mike." James breathed and I nodded. I couldn't consciously get out of here, knowing that Mike was in this house somewhere. "It's kinda obvious that we're not going to be able to get through that door. Not without hurting ourselves and causing one hell of a racket, at least. So let's find Mike and try and find another way out of here."

As soon as the last words left my mouth, the entire room went black. Lauren and Jessica let out small screams and I felt someone – I'm presuming, or at least hoping, that it was Jessica – grab onto me. I heard someone make an 'oof' sound and guessed someone had walked into something.

"Jess?" I asked, putting my hand on the arm that was around my waist.

"Uh-huh." She whimpered and I felt her nodding into my chest.

I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer to me. "It's alright. It's gonna be okay. Everyone alright?" I heard a couple of 'yeah' and a squeaky 'I'm alright' come from Lauren. "James?"

"Yup."

"Ty?"

"Here."

"Eric?"

Nothing.

"Eric!"

Silence.

_Fuck! That must have been the 'oof' sound I heard._ "Eric, answer me, man!"

"Eric!" James sounded slightly panicked and I pulled out my cell phone, using the background light to see everyone. James was standing close to Jessica and myself, while Tyler and Lauren had their arms wrapped around each other. Eric was nowhere to be seen.

I moved myself and Jessica, which was a feat in itself considering she was holding onto me so tightly to where Eric had been standing. He had been on the other side of the island to everyone else and there had to be something where he had been.

And there was something there.

Eric.

"Oh my God!" I breathed, pulling Jessica away from Eric but it was too late. She had seen him and let out this god-awful wail while Lauren screamed.

I had to swallow back the vomit that had gathered in the back of my throat upon seeing him. There was no doubt he was dead. He was lying on his back, his eyes wide open as a thin line of blood trickled from his mouth. The sharp end of a blade stuck out from the centre of his chest, covered in blood. He was gone.

"We have to get out of here." I said quickly, looking at the others. "Now."

They all nodded and we moved away from Eric's lifeless form and back down the way we had come. We ended back up in the entryway, wondering where the hell we could go from here.

"What the hell are we going to do?" James was panicked and stressed, his hair a mess from where he had run his hands through it. I could see that he was trying to hold himself together. I didn't know how I was managing to stay standing at this point. One of my best friends had been murdered and another friend was missing in a house housing said murderer. We had to get out of here.

Now.

"Does anyone have anything that can be used as a weapon?" I asked and everyone shook their heads.

"Oh!" Lauren rummaged through her purse quickly pulling out a spray can. "I have some Mace."

"Good girl." Ever the prepared one. "Right, keep that out." She nodded, clutching it to her. "Anything else?" No one had anything. All James had were his car keys and I don't think he planned on letting anyone get close enough for him to use them as a weapon.

"Those two doors were heavy duty. Who's to say the rest of them aren't the same?" James asked, staring at me as though I had all the answers.

"What about the windows?" I nodded towards the plated glass as an idea ran through my head. Tyler had grabbed his phone out of his pocket and was using it in the same way I was using mine. We both turned our phones towards the windows, seeing that it had stopped raining but the wind was still blowing a gale outside. "We could break them. Climb out that way."

James nodded and headed back into the sitting room where we had been before. We all followed him, not wanting to lose sight of him. He grabbed one of the lighter chairs and threw it at the window.

We all stared wide eyed as the chair that should have smashed the window with the force it was thrown at, did nothing but bounce off the glass.

"What the fuck?" He screamed, pounding on the glass with his fists. It did absolutely no good. What the hell was going on? There seemed to be no way out of this place. There _had_ to be a way out. We just had to find it.

A movement behind me caught my eye and I turned, holding my phone out to try and see what it was. I heard them calling my name as I made my way towards the staircase that was just beside the entry to this room. I ran the light from my phone up the stairs, barely containing the scream of horror that built up in my throat as I lurched forward, unable to stop myself from throwing up this time.

I stumbled back into the room, wiping my mouth, seeing four horror-stricken faces looking back at me. "Mike's dead." I whispered and Jessica let out a scream of horror.

I shook my head, knowing that I would never get the image out of my mind. He had been sat there, on the stairs, his eyes open and his blonde hair covered in blood that also ran down his front, staining his white t-shirt and jeans. There had been rope binding his wrists together in front of him while something else – wire, maybe – had been wrapped around his throat, cutting it wide open.

If I made it out of this alive, I was going to need a fuck-load of therapy.

"This is _your_ fault!" Jessica screamed, launching herself at James, pounding his chest as she sobbed. He grabbed her hands as Tyler and Lauren made their way over to the two of them. "If you hadn't insist we drive home tonight, we wouldn't be in this mess. Eric and Mike would be alive . . . It's . . ."

"Sshh, Jess, it's no one's fault. The only one to blame is the fucking sicko that killed them." Tyler wrapped his arms around her as she leaned back into him, his voice soothing and calming her down.

There was no doubt that Jess loved Mike. They may have only been eighteen but what the two of them had was real. I often envied what they had but I knew that I was still young and still had my chance at finding love. After tonight, though, I wasn't sure about that.

Lauren screamed, looking right at me and I turned to see a knife raised right behind me. I slammed back into the body that was holding it, receiving an 'oof' in response. It didn't do much as he shoved me out of the way, pushing me to the ground. My head collided with something, I guessed it was the side of a table or something and I blacked out momentarily.

"Edward!" I heard Lauren's panicked voice above me as I heard a scuffle and Jessica scream. There was the sound of smashing china and I surmised that our cold cups of tea had gone everywhere.

Tyler was there in an instant, pulling me off the ground. I shook my head, glimpsing a dead Jessica underneath the fucker that had attacked me before James collided with me. He shoved me out into the hallway and we could only do one thing.

Run.

I don't know where we ran to but after a minute or two of heading down hallways and probably doing nothing more than getting ourselves lost in a house that this fucker knew like the back of his hand, we stopped.

"Ed?" James knelt in front of me as I slid down the wall, my head pounding. "Ed, look at me." It only went to show how much I didn't care about anything stupid anymore. I was letting him get away with calling me 'Ed'. I _never_ did that. "How's the head?"

"I feel like I've been hit with a mallet." I groaned as he brushed his fingers against the area I had been hit. His fingers came down with blood spotted on them and I knew immediately that I was bleeding. "It's alright." I waved him off. "Head wounds always bleed a lot. It's not as bad as it looks." I had learned that from my father. He had always told me that a simple cut to the head could bleed masses but not actually be that damaging of a wound. I glanced at the others, noticing that Tyler and Lauren were holding onto each other tightly. "Jess?" He looked down and sighed, shaking his head. "Fuck."

"He's picking us off." Tyler whispered quietly and we looked at him. "Just like Jess fucking said he would."

I shook my head, the pounding easing a little. "Alright, let's go with Jess's horror movie analysis, considering this is what it appears to be turning into. There's one thing we've got to remember."

"What's that?" James asked looking back towards me.

"Don't go upstairs."

"Huh?" Lauren sounded confused and it didn't escape me why.

"Ever seen Scream?" From the light on Tyler's phone I could see them all nod. "Remember what Neve Campbell's character said about scary movies?" I looked at each of them, their faces blank. "She said that all horror movies are is some guy chasing people who run upstairs instead of out the front door. She has a point. If we run upstairs, he's got us trapped. At least if we stay on the ground floor, we have some chance at finding an exit. Upstairs, we're screwed."

"Right, no going upstairs." James echoed, sitting down in front of me. I saw him glance at his arm and I noticed he was bleeding. "It's fine. He just caught my arm. It'll be alright. We gotta move." He sighed, standing up and helping me to my feet. "We can't just sit here. He knows this place. We don't. We've got to keep moving."

"Alright. Well where the hell do we go?" I asked, wondering what the hell we were supposed to do now. He'd already killed three of us and the rest of us were sitting here like fucking ducks ready for him to shoot at.

"Maybe if we can find that girl, she can help us." Lauren whispered quietly, looking around as if he might be somewhere close. He could have been and we wouldn't fucking know it. "I mean, she warned us, didn't she? She told us to get out of here and now look what's happened."

"We just didn't fucking listen when we had the chance." I was angry at myself for not suggesting getting out of here in the first place. I was pissed for even suggesting we come and ask for help in this fucking creepy shithole. It was because of me that we were in this mess. If it hadn't been for my suggestion, we would still be sat in the car, pissed at each other and probably cold as hell but Mike, Eric and Jessica would still be alive.

"Don't!" James snarled and I saw he was looking at me with a look of anger on his face. "Don't fucking do that, Edward." Oops. I knew he was pissed when he used my full name. Normally it was Ed, or Eddie or something else that would aggravate me. "It's not your fault. None of us could have known that this was going to happen. None of us knew that something like this could happen. This is something you find in movies not in real life! Don't fucking blame yourself!"

"But-"

"No." He glared at me and I knew better than to argue. Was he right? He had to have been. It wasn't as though I knew that some fucker would start to murder us as we ran around like headless chickens trying to find a way out.

This was all a game to him.

"Come on." He sighed, turning to face Lauren and Tyler. "You okay to walk?" I nodded, rubbing my head again. It had stopped bleeding, which was good, but I was sure I was a sight to behold. Or not, as the case may be.

We continued our way down the hallway, heading the direction we had been before we stopped, our cell phone lights helping us guide our way. How in the hell were we supposed to get out of here? We had been trapped in this house for about an hour now. My guess was it would start to get light soon. If that was the case, then we could find our way out a lot easier. Unfortunately, there weren't any windows in the part of the house we were in.

. . . . . .

"For fucks' sake!" James growled as we stopped again. We had been trying to find a way out of this maze for the last half an hour. It appeared that he was just toying with us now, letting us get lost in the house and then probably planning what his next move would be. Who would he go for next? Who would be the next to die? "There's got to be a way out of here!"

Lauren came to stand next to me, tears still streaming down her face as she stood there. Both James and Tyler leaned back on a wall as Tyler punched it from where he was standing, his head meeting the wood at the same time as his fist.

Their eyes widened in shock, as did mine as the wall gave way behind them, spinning and pulling the two of them back with it.

"James!" I screamed, launching myself at the wall as it clicked back into place. "James! Tyler!" I pounded on the wall, shouting their names as Lauren did the same thing. She was screaming and crying for the two of them. We didn't get an answer and I wasn't happy with that.

There had to be a way to get to them.

A light at the end of the hallway had us both turning and quieting as I pulled Lauren behind me. A door creaked and I saw that it was the small girl that had warned us before. She waved for us to follow her as she looked around, a scared expression on her face.

"Come on." Her voice was a harsh whisper as she stared at us. We both looked at each other before looking back at the wall where James and Tyler had disappeared. "Your friends are dead. Please, if you want to get out you must follow me."

What other choice did we have? There was a high chance we were going to die in here tonight but if this tiny girl could help us get out then what did we have to lose? I kept Lauren close to me as we followed her. She led us through a maze of hallways and walls, and I felt us walking down a sloping corridor.

"These are the only hallways my master doesn't know about. He won't be able to find you down here." She whispered and we came out into what I could only call the basement. There was a small window and she pointed to it. "That's the only unsecured outlet in the house. You'll both fit through. Now go."

"Come with us." Lauren said quickly and I agreed. She had helped us to get out. Or at least tried if we didn't get anywhere. "Please, don't stay here with him. Come with us."

"I . . . I can't. He's my master and-"

"He doesn't have to be." I argued alongside Lauren. "You don't have to have a master. Please, you've helped us. We can't leave here knowing that you could be in danger. Please, come with us."

"I can't." She shook her head, her blue eyes wide and sad. "But you have to go. Now."

She pushed us towards the window and I helped Lauren out. She climbed out easily and I stood up on the box that rested just under the window. I turned back to the girl who was waiting for us to get out before leaving. "Please. Come with us."

"I can't." She shook her head again. "Go. This is your only chance."

She turned back towards the exit and I sighed, pulling myself out of the window. I grabbed Lauren's hand and we ran as though the fires of Hell were licking at our heels, which I thought was amazing considering Lauren was wearing deathtraps for shoes. She hadn't stumbled once. We had almost reached the woods when there was something slightly off about what was around us. I knew that this was the way we had come because we had run down the lane.

I knew what was different as soon as something, or should I say some_one_, collided with me, forcing me to the ground. There was a pain in my side, but I did the best I could to ignore it as I screamed at Lauren to run before elbowing my attacker in what I hoped to be his face. I hoped that would hold him off for long enough so that the two of us could get some more distance between us.

I pulled myself out from under him, starting to get up before I felt a hand around my ankle, pulling me back down. I used my other leg to kick out at him, my foot not really meeting anything solid.

I let out a scream of agony as something forced its way through the skin and muscle of my calf. The grip on my ankle hadn't eased and I knew that this was it for me. I was going to die on the edge of possible freedom, as the rain started pouring and the sun was starting to come up.

He pulled me back towards him and I tried to pull myself out of his grasp but the pain in my leg was too much. It hurt too much to really fight back.

All of a sudden there was an almighty 'thwack' and the grip on my ankle almost disappeared, the hand hanging limply around me. Something had stopped him and I wondered what the fuck had caused it.

I turned to see the small, black-haired, blue-eyed girl standing there, glaring at her master before spitting on him. I saw that she was holding a shovel in her hands as she looked evilly at him. She was panting, a sign of exertion.

"Is your offer still open?" She asked, putting the shovel down and shoving his limp ass out of the way. She rolled him, making him slide down the slight incline next to us.

"Absolutely." Lauren breathed as she collapsed next to me. The stupid girl hadn't run like I told her to. She had waited for me to follow her. She could have gotten herself killed.

"This is going to hurt." The girl said softly, pulling her over-shirt off, leaving her in nothing more than a tank top. She grasped the handle of the knife that was sticking out of the back of my leg before handing the shirt to Lauren. "When I pull this out, wrap this around his leg as tightly as you can." Lauren nodded, watching her every movement. When had Lauren gotten over her aversion to blood? Normally, it made her squeamish and ill. Desperate times, I guess.

She hadn't been kidding when she said it would hurt. When she pulled out that knife it hurt like a motherfucker and I made sure that they knew it as Lauren tied the shirt tightly around my leg.

"He could come to at any moment. We have to get out of here." She said quickly as she stood up and the two of the pulled me up off the ground.

It was clear that I wouldn't be using my leg at the moment but Lauren paused, picking up the knife and throwing it as far as she could. Which turned out to be pretty far. Who knew? She grabbed the shovel the girl had used, doing the same thing but twirling before launching it out across from her. It flew quite far and I knew never to mess with Lauren when it came to long distance aim. She obviously didn't want to chance him waking up and coming after us with either of those weapons. I didn't want to leave him alive but I couldn't stoop to the level of murdering someone. Surely he would be found when we got to the cops and they would deal with him.

She walked back over to us, looping one of my arms over her shoulder and helping to support my weight. The other girl did the same on my other side and some part of me registered that I should have felt slightly emasculated at that gesture but another, larger part of me was so relieved to be alive, I didn't care.

We hadn't gone very far when the pain in my side became too much. "Wait, stop." I breathed and they helped me to sit on the ground.

"Shit!" Lauren cursed quietly, pulling my jacket away from my side. My shirt was drenched in blood that none of us had noticed before now and I guessed I knew what the pain in my side was from. The fucker had stabbed me as he tackled me outside of the woods.

I knew where we were now and I knew that we weren't far from the car. We had a chance of making it there which meant that there was a chance someone could drive past and find us. I wasn't holding out much hope.

"We can't stay here." The girl said softly, brushing the hairs out of my face.

"What's your name, by the way?" I asked, sounding breathless to my own ears. The pain was becoming unbearable and I knew I would pass out before long. I just wanted to know her name before I did.

"Mary Alice." She smiled, glancing up at Lauren. "But the two of you can call me Alice."

"Edward." I smiled back, feeling slightly lightheaded. Blood loss. Not good.

"Lauren. We need to get him to a hospital." She said as she grabbed my arm and the two of them eased me up onto my feet. Well, _foot_.

It felt like an eternity before I heard Lauren laugh slightly nudging me gently. "There's the car." She sounded happy to see it. Who knew that we would get such enjoyment out of seeing James's mom's black seven seater? I sure as hell didn't.

We made it out onto the road and they helped me to sit down, leaning against the car.

"We made it." Lauren whispered, wrapping her arms around my shoulders, her lips pressed against my forehead. "We made it, Eddie." I could feel the hot tears running into my hair but I really didn't care. All I wanted at the moment was to sleep. I felt my eyes becoming heavy as my vision blurred. "Eddie?" She pulled away from me slightly, fear in her voice. "Edward?"

"A car!" Alice's panicked voice sounded as though it was further away than it should have been. Lauren placed me back against the car as she moved away from me.

"Help!" I could see the two of them waving their arms and dancing around in the road. "Help! Please!"

I closed my eyes, only aware of sounds happening around me. I heard the car stop and Lauren and Alice beg for whoever was inside to help me. I heard two doors open before one of them ordered for a 'Bella' to stay in the car in a gruff voice. It appeared that whoever Bella was, she didn't listen as four pairs of footsteps came around the car.

I was aware of someone kneeling down beside me, pressing their fingers to my throat before they brushed against under my nose and in front of my mouth briefly. I then felt a set of hands make their way underneath me, lifting me off the ground.

I heard a car door open and felt myself being lowered into it before the same gruff voice said that he'd let it slide this one time as two bodies slid their way underneath me, my head coming to rest in someone's lap as fingers ran through my hair. The same door slammed as another opened before closing again.

"This is Chief Swan." I heard the man say to nobody in particular. I heard the crackling of a radio and guessed that this must have been a police car we were in. We'd finally got lucky. "I've got a 421 headed out onto the highway and needing the nearest hospital alerting to incoming." There was a crackling over the radio again and some kind of response.

"It's okay, Eddie." I heard Lauren whisper in my ear gently as her fingers ran through my hair. "We're safe now. It's alright."

It was with those words that I was able to let go of consciousness and allow myself to fall into the black abyss that called to me.

. . . . . . . .

_**There's more to come.**_

_**You'll get the concluding chapter tomorrow. Find out what happens to Edward, Lauren and Alice when they get to the hospital.**_

_**Are they really safe?**_

_**Wait and see.**_

_**(Jeez, I sound like one of those crappy voice overs at the end of TV programmes, don't I?) Anyway, have a Happy Halloween!**_

_**See you tomorrow!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the characters but I own the plot.**_

_**WARNING: As with the first chapter, there are graphic details within this story, so if you're under the age of 18 or have a weak stomach I strongly suggest you don't read it! **_

_**Survival Instincts**_

_**Chapter 2**_

_Beep . . ._

Fuck off.

_Beep beep . . ._

Fuck off!

_Beep beep beep . . ._

Seriously! Fuck the hell off!

"I think he's waking up." I heard a voice whisper next to me as something squeezed my fingers gently. Where the hell was I and why wasn't I dead? From the memories that assaulted me from the previous night, I should have been gone right about now.

Last night.

The tyre blow out.

The house.

The creepy fucker.

Eric.

Mike.

Jess.

James and Tyler.

They were all gone.

Alice.

Lauren!

"Edward, honey!" It was my mom's voice, couple with that of a stranger next to me. There were hands on my shoulders, trying to keep me down for some reason. "Edward, sweetheart, you need to calm down. Baby, please, calm down."

"Blood pressure one sixty over eighty!" A woman's voice called out next to me and I wondered what she was on about. "I need a dosage of Meprobamate!"

There was a slight pressure on my hand, a chill running through it momentarily before I was being pulled back down into inky blackness, hearing my mother crying and calling my name. What on earth was going on?

. . . . . . . . .

I opened my eyes, blinking furiously as the light from the room nearly blinded me. I was aware of something wrapped around my hand and looked down to find my mom asleep in the chair next to my bed. Her hand was wrapped around my own, her head resting on the side of the bed as she slept. Her expression wasn't peaceful. There were worry lines across her forehead and her mouth was set into a frown.

I wondered what was going on inside her head.

"Edward?" I turned to see my dad sitting there on the other chair that was in my room. "Oh, thank god." He made his way over to me, gently wrapping his arms around me and pressing his nose into my hair. I hadn't ever seen him like this before. He looked panicked and scared. Normally, he was calm and collected, not letting anything rattle him while the rest of us flipped out.

Now he looked terrified.

And being honest, it scared me to see my dad like that.

I didn't like it.

"Don't you ever do that to us again, young man." He whispered harshly into my hair. "I can't even bear to think about . . ."

"Wh- where's Lauren?" Where was she? Was she alright? Did she get out as well? Was she hurt somewhere or was she safe at home with her little sister? "And Alice?"

"They're both fine." He said softly, running his fingers through my hair. "They're both in the waiting room worrying about you. They weren't hurt. They were checked over and they're both absolutely fine. They're safe." I nodded, letting that sink in. "Edward?" I looked at him, not really wanting to see the look of fear and worry that lay within his eyes at the moment. "Where are the others?" He searched my eyes with his own, his hands cupping my face as he asked the question. Without saying as much, he wasn't letting me move. "Where are James and the others?"

"They . . . they're dead." I whispered, closing my eyes and he let out a breath, pulling me close to him.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, perching on the side of the bed, rocking backwards and forwards softly. It was comforting to think that he still knew what would have calmed me as a child. It wasn't working so much now, though. "Edward? You need to calm down, son. If you don't they're going to sedate you again."

I nodded, taking a deep breath, closing my eyes. I had to stay calm. I didn't want to be put out again. I wanted to know if the police had been to the house, if they'd found the others, if they'd caught the fucker that killed them?

"They're not going to do anything to Alice, are they?" I asked, looking up at my dad. She had been in the house with that guy. She could be seen as an accomplice. They couldn't do that to her, could they?

"No." He sighed, shaking his head. "Actually, Alice has a happy ending as well."

"What do you mean?" How could she have a happy ending? She had just run away from the only place, most likely, that she had ever known and now she had no one. She was all alone and I didn't understand.

"It seems that Alice is actually by birth called Mary Alice Brandon and she was kidnapped from Biloxi, Mississippi a little under six years ago." He explained and I wondered how long I had been out. I opened my mouth to question him but he already had an answer for me. "You've been out for five days. Your body went into shock with the sudden blood loss and slipping into sleep was the only way for it to cope and heal. If you had been conscious before now you would have been in a lot of pain." I nodded, not really understanding. "Alice's real family don't live in Biloxi anymore, though."

"How's she gonna find them?" What would happen to her if she couldn't find them?

"She already has." He sighed, smiling down at me. I couldn't help but wonder what on earth had gotten into my dad today. He was all hot and cold. One minute he was smiling and the next her was on the verge of tears telling me that he couldn't lose me. What the hell? "You know the Brandon's who live just down the street, right?"

It took a moment for realisation to dawn on me and I looked at him, wide-eyed as it registered what his words meant. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely." He whispered, resting his cheek on my forehead again. "By the way, you're grounded . . . for the rest of your life."

I smiled into his chest, closing my eyes. "Deal." I wasn't sure how much I'd want to go out after what had happened to me.

I let out a breath, feeling safe with my dad here with me as I slipped into sleep yet again.

. . . . . . . . .

For the third time I woke up in that hospital room, wishing the view would change a little. But there was something different this time. I had a body either side of me.

I looked to the side to see both my parents asleep either side of me. Somehow – I wasn't exactly sure how – they had both managed to fit on the bed with me. I couldn't see that going over well with the hospital staff, no matter if they were my parents. With them either side of me it felt like I was in a bubble, untouchable and safe from everything and everyone in the world.

An odd feeling but not completely unwanted.

I looked over towards the door to see a nurse walk through. She was pretty, quite tall with long strawberry blonde hair that was pulled back into a braid. She smiled at me warmly, seeing that I was awake.

"Good morning." She said softly, walking over to the bed and checking the chart that hung on the end. Probably to see when everything had been done last. Probably when I was asleep. Now there's a surprise. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Good." I nodded and she gave me another smile moving to the side of my bed. "I'm a little hungry, actually." I admitted and she grinned at me.

"That's good to hear." She looked down at the bed, the look on her face telling me that she was wondering how to go about taking my blood pressure with my father in the way. "Now, this could be problematic." She sighed, chuckling a little at the situation.

"Don't worry. I got it." I turned to face my dad before taking a breath and blowing in his ear. His head snapped up as he mumbled something incoherent and glancing around drowsily.

He turned to face me as I let out a laugh at his reaction and he scowled at me sleepily. "Just because you're in here doesn't mean you can do that." He mumbled, wiggling a finger in the ear I had blown into.

"Um, Dad?" I nodded towards the nurse, who wiggled her fingers at him, giggling softly. "She needs to take my blood pressure."

He seemed to recognise that he was in the way and climbed off the bed quickly, surely still practically asleep as he stumbled a little before turning around to face me. "How are you feeling this morning, son?"

"I'm okay." I replied as the nurse slipped the cuff around my arm.

"He's hungry." She told him and my dad beamed at me. What? It's not like it's something I can decide. My stomach wants food so that's what I'm gonna give it.

"That's very good to hear." He rested his hands on the end of my bed as I rested my head back on my pillows. "What time is it?" He asked the nurse, who glanced at her watch quickly before noting down the numbers displayed on the screen in front of her on my chart.

"It's nine thirty." She replied with a smile. "I'll just see if I can get him some food sent up." She nodded at me again before she left the room and I guess everything was okay.

"Do you feel up to having some visitors?" My dad asked as my mom stirred next to me. She opened her eyes slowly, blinking at me a look of pure relief spreading across her features.

"Oh, honey, you're awake." She sighed, pressing a kiss to my cheek before she climbed off the bed, straightening her clothes out. "How is he, Carlisle?"

"BP's one ten over seventy, heart rate is good. Everything looks good." He smiled up at me as he flipped the pages of my chart back down. I wasn't so sure he was supposed to be looking at that but oh well. "He's fine, Esme."

"How long to I have to stay in here?" I asked, not wanting to linger in the hospital for longer than I had to.

"As long as the doctors feel the need to keep you." My dad answered and I sighed, closing my eyes. "Now, you didn't answer my question." What question? "Do you think you can handle some visitors? Because there are a couple of girls that are going crazy in the waiting room wanting to see you."

I smiled at the thought of Alice and Lauren being here. I nodded, silently letting him know that I wanted to see them as well.

He nodded, whispering an almost silent 'okay' before he made his way out of the room. My mom sat there, watching me with a reverent smile on her face.

"Oh, baby." She whispered, brushing her fingers through my hands.

"Mom?" She looked at me expectantly and I took a deep breath, trying to summon up the courage to ask my next question. "Have they . . . have the police . . ."

She shushed me gently, her expression and eyes telling me she knew what I wanted to know. "Yes, sweetheart. They've found the house. Because it was Charlie that picked you up he radioed through to the station to get all the officers out there immediately. They found the car and the house. They found . . . they found them all." The last words were a whisper and I nodded, a tear falling down my cheek.

"Were any of them . . .?"

"They're all gone, sweetie." She sighed and I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "It's alright, you're safe. You're okay."

"But they're not." I whispered, clenching my eyes closed even tighter. "So it's not okay."

"I know, sweetheart. I know." Her voice was soft and tender, just like a mothers' voice should be. "Your father and I have been talking and we've decided that when you get out of here, maybe you should speak to someone about what happened."

"What? Like therapy?"

"Yeah." She sounded unsure, not really knowing what my answer would be. Some part of me was glad that my parents had been discussing it. I didn't know how I'd broach the subject with them. I had known as soon as I had seen Mike on those stairs, that should I make it out of that house alive, I would need therapy. I wasn't going to be able to get over something like that on my own.

"Okay."

"Okay?" She asked, sitting up a little. I had the feeling that she hadn't expected me to agree with her. I nodded and she gave me a small smile. "Alright."

We both turned to the door when it opened and Alice and Lauren stepped through. They both looked infinitely better than when I had last seen them but then again, that had been when it had been pouring with rain and we had been trying to get through a forest covered in mud, so I think pretty much anything was an improvement on that.

"I'll leave you guys alone." My mom whispered, pressing her lips into my hair for a moment.

"Hey, Eddie." Lauren whispered as she sat down where my mom had just been. She looked completely different. Traumatised. Which was hardly surprising. It wasn't as though she would come away from that night without _any_ scars whatsoever.

She was wearing a dark grey pair of sweats and a light grey t-shirt. She wore a dark grey cardigan over the top of the t-shirt, a pair of flats on her feet. She wasn't wearing any make-up and her hair was up in a limp ponytail, her eyes tired with large purple circles forming underneath them. I didn't think she'd gotten a lot of sleep over the last couple of days.

Seeing Alice sitting there, I was able to get a better look at her. I had been right when I saw that she was pale, her skin having a sort of porcelain quality to it. Her eyes were a clear blue, sitting there, watching me as I adjusted to their presence in the room. Her hair was black, reaching down past her waist. My guess is that she hadn't had it cut since she had been taken.

Before I knew what was happening, Lauren had let out a sob and launched herself at me in a huge hug. It was nice to know that she was happy I was alright but that motherfucking hurt!

"Ow, Lauren. Ow!" She pulled back, her eyes landing on where she knew the stab wound in my side to be.

"Oh my God." Her hands flew to her mouth as tears started to well in her eyes. "I hurt you, didn't I?"

"Lauren, it's okay." I held my hand out to her, wanting her to see that I was okay. "I'm alright. See?"

"Have the police come in yet?" Alice asked in a small voice. I turned to look at her as she watched me. I could see that there was something going on behind those blue eyes of hers but I wasn't quite sure what it was. It was an eerie feeling.

"No." I sighed, resting my head back on my pillows. "Have they spoken to you?" They both nodded solemnly. Lauren stood up and moved to the window, looking out at the view. "My mom said they found them." She nodded again.

"It was Chief Swan that found us." She said softly, shaking her head. "It was pure luck. You know how everyone has been going on about his daughter moving to town?" I nodded slowly as she turned to look at me. "Well, apparently she was on a red-eye flight from Phoenix. He was bringing her back to Forks when he found us. She was really worried about you."

"Really?" She nodded and I wondered why the hell someone I didn't know would be worried about me. Or did I know her.

Chief Swan's daughter?

Isabella Swan.

Bella.

There was a flash of mahogany hair and chocolate eyes flittering through my mind, coupled with a girls' laughter. Did I know her? I had some recollection of knowing someone by that name but until I managed to get a look at her, I wouldn't know for sure.

I shook my head, clearing it of Isabella Swan. I couldn't think about her now.

"Edward?" My attention was averted back to Lauren who was looking at me with an intense expression on her face. I don't think I'd seen one like it before. "When they were going through the house, they found the trapdoor that James and Tyler went through. Alice went back to the house to show them where it was and . . . they found Tyler but . . . they didn't . . ."

"They didn't what?" I was confused as to what she was trying to tell me. It might have been the pain meds that were running through my system at the moment but she was sounding very cryptic to my ears. Either that or she couldn't actually get the words out. "Lauren?" I coaxed in a soft voice, hoping to draw it out of her. "They didn't what?"

"Find James." She whispered and I sucked in a breath. "They didn't find him, Edward. They've searched the whole house and they didn't find him."

"There's a trap behind that door." Alice said softly and my eyes flicked to her. "So that if pushed the wrong way, anyone that goes through it . . . is killed." She took a shuddering breath, shaking her head. When she looked back at me, there were tears in her bright blue eyes and I wanted to just reach out and hold her. I wanted to do that with the both of them. So I did. I held out my arms, beckoning the both of them to me and they did. Alice was a little more hesitant than Lauren, not having known me for that long but I managed to convince her climb up on the bed next to me. "They found Tyler and I'm never going to get that image out of my head but . . . James was nowhere to be seen. He wasn't anywhere in the house."

"But Chief Swan told us that they found blood on the frame of the window we climbed out of." Lauren whispered softly, resting her head on my shoulder. "They just don't know whose it was."

"So there's a chance he's alive, then?" They both nodded and I felt something in me lift. There was a chance James was alive. But if he was, then he was wandering around out there, probably hurt and lost and I didn't want to know what he was feeling at that point. "Are they looking for him?"

"Chief Swan says they're combing every inch of that area. They've found the knife and the shovel that I threw, so I guess he's telling the truth." Lauren looked up at me, her eyes wide with fear. "Edward . . . there's something else."

"What?" I didn't like what her eyes and the tremor in her voice were telling me.

"They haven't found . . . _him_ yet either."

They haven't found him!

So he's wandering around out there as well. He wouldn't have gone back to the house. Not with the police combing every inch of it to find some trace of him. Where the hell would he have gone? Would he come here? Were we safe in here like we thought we were?

"Edward, calm down." Alice placed a hand on my shoulder, curling up into my side, being mindful of the wound that lay there. She rested her head just above my heart and sighed gently. "You've got to calm down."

"I'm trying but . . . it's hard when you know that the person who murdered four, maybe five of your friends and tried to kill you is still out there. Who knows where he is?" I closed my eyes, trying to will my panic away but it wasn't really working.

"They've got security up here," Lauren said softly, sitting up, trying to calm me down. "They're ID-ing everyone that comes through here, making sure that they're on the list and visiting an actual patient. No one's getting through unchecked. Not even the doctors and nurses. There's police everywhere. We're safe."

"I hope so." I sighed, feeling my panic ebb with her words. I hoped we were safe. Who knew what that nutjob would do if he found us. Probably finish off the job.

"Hi," We turned to see my dad in the doorway, looking slightly grim as two men followed him in. I recognised one of them as Charlie Swan but the other I didn't know at all. "Edward, we need to know if you feel up to making your statement."

"We understand if it's too much at the moment, kiddo." Charlie stepped forward, a small smile on his face, barely visible underneath the 'tache he sported but it was there. "But it's kind of important."

"I'll try." I whispered, looking at my dad who gave me an encouraging smile. The girls climbed off the bed, whispering their 'good luck's to me and I took a deep breath. "Can my dad stay here?"

"Of course." Charlie said nodding. The other guy looked at him, slightly pissed and Charlie stared right back. My dad sat down at the end of my bed while Charlie sat on the chair closest to me and the other guy moved the one from by the window to sit next to the bed. "First of all, how're you doing, kiddo?"

"I'm feeling better, thanks." I gave him a small smile, which he returned. "I owe you a huge thank you, Chief. If you hadn't come along I don't know what . . ."

"It's alright." He said softly which sounded odd in his low, gruff voice and from someone with Charlie's overall demeanour. He wasn't really the softly, softly kind of guy. "I'm just glad I was in the right place at the right time."

"Anyway, thank you."

"You're welcome, Edward. Just get back on your feet as quickly as possible."

"That might take a little time." My dad sighed, resting his hand on my uninjured leg. "The muscle in Edward's leg was severely damaged by the knife and the fact that he didn't let go of it after he stabbed him made it even worse. It's going to take a while in physio before Edward will be walking properly again. Sorry, son." I had known that having physio for my leg to rebuild the muscle could have been a possibility. I was just hoping that it wasn't true.

"If we're done with all the niceties, I think it's time we get down to business." Both my dad and Charlie glared at the man sat on the other side of my bed and I found it quite comical to be honest. "Right, Edward, my name is Caius Volturi and if it's alright with you, I'd like to tape your statement for future use. Is that alright?" I nodded and he pulled a tape recorder out of his bag and pressed record, setting it on the bed. "Now, we're going to start at the beginning and work our way through the night. If at any time you feel that you can't carry on, we can stop and resume at a later date, is that alright?" I nodded again and he stated for the recorder that I'd agreed. "What time did you leave the party in Port Angeles?"

"Um," I thought for a moment, trying to remember what time it was. "It was about half one, in the morning. We didn't want to stay any later than that because we had to be back for school the next day."

"Can you tell us what happened on the drive home?" He asked, looking up from where he was also taking notes on a pad. Wouldn't you have thought that he could replay the tape back and get what he needed from that? Apparently not.

"Um, well, Eric and Tyler had passed out in the back, either that or they'd fallen asleep at some point. I'm not sure which. Lauren was constantly asking how long it was until we got back which was annoying everyone in the car. It was just after she'd asked again that the tyre blew." I closed my eyes, my mind flicking on to later in the night. "James and I got out to change the tyre but when I looked in the trunk, there wasn't one there. James's mom had used it and not replaced the spare."

"What happened next?" He asked, his voice calm and collected. There was a high chance he'd already heard this story from Lauren. He just needed me to verify what happened.

"We got back in the car to try and figure out what to do."

"What did you decide to do?"

"We decided to wait." I sighed, picking at the loose threads on the blanket covering me. For some reason fiddling with something always helped me to focus. "We, um, didn't really see what else we could do. We were going to wait until either another car came along or until morning so we could see where we were going so we walk to get some cell reception to call a tow." He nodded, writing something down again. "But um, I got out and-"

"Why did you get out of the car?" He asked quickly, interrupting me. I glared at him and my dad chuckled lightly. He knew how much I hated being interrupted. He didn't say anything, holding up his hand. Charlie was sat there with a smirk, probably mentally applauding me for my guts. I had the feeling that he didn't like this guy very much.

"I had to use the bathroom." I answered shortly and he nodded, writing it down. Why the fuck was that important? Yes, witness needed to piss . . . excellent evidence there. "Anyway, I went into the woods by the car and that's when I saw a light. I figured that as long as we were stuck there and I could see the car, what harm could a little investigating do, right?" He nodded once, his expression never changing. "So I walked to the edge of the woods and that's when I saw the house."

"What did you do after you found it?"

"I went back to the car and told them what I'd found." Both Charlie and my dad were grinning at my obvious teenager 'duh' tone of voice. My dad was used to it from me and my brother and Charlie probably knew he had to expect it at some point from his daughter. This guy however didn't seem to have a clue.

"Did they agree that going to the house was the best plan of action?" He asked, looking up at me and I purposefully gave him another typical teenage move of the 'are you fucking stupid?' look. It's one my brother and I had down to a T.

"Of course they did. If they didn't we wouldn't have gone to the house, would we?" I responded and both the fathers in the room were silently chuckling. I'm sure my dad was thinking that the Cullen genes were coming out to play again. All of us had the ability to be extremely sarcastic when we wanted to be. Charlie just looked like he was having the time of his life watching this guy being put in his place by a teenager.

"I don't know." He shook his head slowly, leaning back in the chair looking incredibly smug about something. Yeah, I _really_ didn't like this guy. "Peer pressure is a powerful thing."

"There was no peer pressure." I stated clearly. "Everyone agreed on going to that house, now do you want me to finish the story or do you want to tell it?" The look on his face was priceless as he sat there. His jaw dropped and his face started to turn red. I had clearly embarrassed him and I didn't care. Clearly he didn't like being put in his place by a teenage boy. I had the incredible urge to stick my tongue out at him but I managed to refrain.

"Please, carry on." He gestured with his hand for me to continue once he had regained his composure. I still thought it was funny even if he didn't.

"We _all_ decided to go to the house. None of us wanted to stay in the car." I took a breath, closing my eyes for a moment. "I don't know how long it took us to get there, half an hour maybe but when we finally got there, none of us really wanted to go up to the house."

"Why not?" He crossed an ankle over his leg, resting his hand on it. Well, if you're comfortable fucker. "You'd said that you'd all come to the conclusion that the house was the best bet you had. Why not want to knock on the door?"

"Because . . . when we got there . . . the house _itself_ seemed . . . I don't know how to explain it." I searched my mind, trying to come up with the right word. "It seemed creepy and _evil_ in some way. I don't know how to put it. But none of us really wanted to go in there." I let out a breath. "But we did and when we knocked on the door, Alice was the one that opened the door. She looked at us like she wanted to tell us to get the hell away from there and slam the door in our faces but . . ."

"But?"

"_He_ showed up behind her before she could get anything out." I said softly and he nodded, understanding who I meant by 'he'. "She called him 'Master Marcus' I think. Something like that anyway."

"So she didn't want to let you into the house?" I shook my head. "What happened next?"

"Well, we asked him if we could use his phone, saying that we'd wait for a tow back in the car and he sounded almost . . . offended at the idea. He turned around and said what kind of person would he be if he let us back out in that weather. It had started raining by then." He nodded, again with the writing. "He told us that we could wait in the sitting room and that Alice would bring us some tea. He disappeared after that."

"What do you mean 'he disappeared?"

"Exactly that." I shrugged and he raised an eyebrow. "He walked out of the door we'd come through and didn't come back."

"Did she bring you the tea?" I nodded.

"She also told us to get out as fast as possible." I sighed, looking at my dad who nodded for me to continue, as did the Chief. They were both giving me silent encouragement to get through this. I wondered if I could. It was hard enough already and I hadn't even got to the hard stuff yet. "She told us to forget about the phone and that the weather outside was preferable to what would happen if we stayed."

"Did you listen to her?"

"After a few minutes, yeah we did." I nodded and he nodded along slowly. "We decided that being in that place wasn't worth the phone so we got up to leave, deciding to wait it out until morning to walk and try and find a signal. But we couldn't get out."

"How come?"

"The door was locked." I closed my eyes, remembering the panicked look on my friend's faces as we realised the front door wasn't budging. I knew that my own face was mirroring theirs, fear starting to kick in.

"Edward." My dad's voice pulled me out of that memory and I opened my eyes to look at him. "You've got to keep calm." He glanced at the monitor showing my heart rate and I nodded. It was beating a little too fast for my liking. And apparently, my dad's as well.

"The door was one of those really heavy duty ones. And it was locked. It was a standard handle so it shouldn't have been hard to open and we couldn't see any deadbolts or anything like that around. But it wasn't budging."

"What did you do?"

"Tyler had the idea that we should split up to try and find a way out but that idea made Jessica and Lauren panic, so we didn't. We wanted to stick together, realising that if someone did find a way out, there'd be no way to tell the others because none of us had reception." He nodded, his pen flying across the paper. Did he have to do that now? "We decided to try and find a backdoor which we found in what seemed to be a kitchen. I'm only guessing because there wasn't anything in there that really stood out as being used. I mean, there were no pans or cooking things in there, but there was an oven and a sink and stuff, so . . . Anyway, that door was the same as the front. It wouldn't budge. It was Tyler that tried to open that one. But when he turned round he saw that . . ."

"What did he see?"

"That Mike was gone." I whispered, feeling the panic I'd felt that night starting to resurface. "I checked the hallway we'd come down and he wasn't there. He was just . . . gone."

"And then?"

"The lights went out." I whispered, shaking my head lightly, trying to get rid of the images flying round in my mind. "The girls screamed and there was a noise like when someone's had the wind knocked out of them or something. I thought someone had just walked into something. I called out to everyone, making sure they were all there but . . . Eric didn't reply."

"Why was that?"

"Because he was dead." I said softly, picturing Eric's lifeless body in my head. I could see him, clearly as I had from the light of my phone. The blood on the side of his face, the knife sticking out from his chest. I couldn't get rid of the image. "The sound I'd heard. It was Eric being stabbed."

He took a breath, writing something more down on his pad and I felt my dad putting pressure on my foot, clearly trying to remind me that he was there with me. I felt Charlie's hand on my arm, again probably trying to keep me in the present. "What did you do when you found Eric?" He sounded like it was starting to strain him a little now. Good.

"We ran." I stated simply. "We ran back down the hallway into the entrance hall. We had our phones out, so we had a little light to see by but it wasn't much. We went into the sitting room, where the fire was still going so we could at least see. I had the idea that we could break the windows and get out that way. James grabbed a chair and threw it at the window. We all expected it to smash straight through but it didn't. It just bounced off. It was like he'd had the whole thing planned before we'd even arrived. That he'd had the whole place completely sealed shut so that no one could get out."

"I think it might have been more than keeping the seven of _you_ in." He replied grimly but I couldn't find it in me to care. "What did you do after the chair didn't smash the window?"

"Something moved behind me." I bit down on my lip, closing my eyes as I saw Mike's body in my head. "So me being stupid ass that I am, went to see what it was. I knew it was dangerous yet I went anyway. There was . . . there was something on the stairs."

"What was it?" He didn't sound so enthusiastic about getting my statement now. He sounded disturbed and slightly scared if I had to admit. He'd obviously known that I'd been the one to find Mike on the stairs. All the others had known was that it had been horrible enough to make me throw up. They didn't see him at all. No, that was only in my mind.

"It was Mike." I whispered, feeling a tear make its way down my cheek. "He was dead. He'd been sat there, on the stairs. His hands were bound and he was covered in blood. It looked like there was . . . wire . . . or something around his throat and his eyes . . . his eyes were open . . . blank and lifeless and I . . ."

I couldn't get the picture out of my head. It stayed there, along with the imagery of what he must have done to Mike. I could hear the beeping of the heart monitor becoming faster and my dad moved off of the bed.

"I think that's enough for now." I heard him say forcefully. I didn't hear any objections so I knew that both Charlie and that Caius guy agreed. "Edward? Edward? Edward, I need you to look at me. Look at me, Edward." I knew my eyes were open because somewhere behind the image of Mike there was a bright light. I registered that he must have been looking for some kind of pupil response from me. "Shit!" I heard him whack something before telling Charlie and the other guy that they needed to leave.

There were voices all around me, all above them; my dad was calling my name. All of the disorder and confusion melted away as I was tugged back into the blackness I had become familiar with.

. . . . . . .

I groaned as I opened my eyes, feeling groggy and weak as I moved my head.

"Edward!" Before I could register what had happened my dad was in front of me, his hands running through my hair. "Don't you ever do that to me again, young man." He sounded so scared and I wondered what had happened. I looked up at him, confused and he sighed, resting his cheek on the top of my head. "You went into shock. Reliving what happened that night . . . I knew it was a bad idea. We're not going to go through that again. You're not giving the rest of your statement until you're released from hospital. Understand?" I nodded. I had no problem with that.

"What time is it?" I asked, my throat feeling scratchy and sore. My dad picked up a cup of what I assumed was water and held the straw to my lips, allowing me to drink until I was sated.

"It's a little after eight in the evening." He sighed, running his hands through his hair. "I'm going to go and get a nurse, let them know you're awake. Also, I think Charlie wants to come and see you, make sure you're alright. Do you think you're up for that?" I nodded and he gave me a small smile. "Okay."

"Where's mom?" I asked, wondering where she'd gone.

"I sent her down to the cafeteria. She's not eating properly and I wanted to make sure she had something to eat while she was here. She didn't want to leave after what happened, but I managed to convince her that she was no use to you if she made herself sick." I nodded, knowing my mother well enough to know what she was like. He ran a hand through my hair gently, letting out a sigh before he slid off my bed. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I'm sure Charlie will be in here before me."

"Okay." I nodded, closing my eyes as the door closed behind him.

I lay there in silence for a few moments before the door opened and closed quietly. I guessed that it was Charlie, having been told by my father that I was awake and wanting to see if I was alright.

I opened my eyes, feeling the fear and panic welling within me and sucking in a breath to call for help. I didn't get the chance before Marcus's hand violently covered my mouth and nose, making it impossible for me to breath.

I tried to pull his hand away from my face, struggling against his grip, but he was unrelenting in his hold on my face. Even from behind his hand, I tried to shout, my cries muffled and strained to my own ears. There was no chance someone was going to hear me.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw his hand move into the pocket of the jacket he was wearing and he pulled out a knife. There was a maniacal look in his eye and I felt the tears of fear welling in my eyes as my lungs started to burn through lack of oxygen.

He was going to kill me right here and now.

I silently willed someone to come through the door and stop him, knowing that there wasn't much of a chance before he killed me. He wasn't playing games this time. He was going to kill me right here, right now and there was nothing I could do about it.

I continued to struggle against him, my lungs burning and the pain in my side telling me that I'd most likely pulled some stitches in my side. What did it matter? I was going to die, anyway.

Before he could really make a move, the door opened and someone shouted at him, clearly having seen the way he was holding me down and the knife in his hand. It all happened so quickly, I wasn't even really sure of what went on. A gunshot sounded throughout the room and Marcus slumped across me, the hand on my face falling limply away only to be replaced with a searing pain in my hip.

"Edward!" It was Charlie. He ran to my bed and pushed Marcus off of me, not giving him a second thought as he rolled onto the floor.

"Oh my God!" There were people everywhere. Charlie moved back so that the nurses could get to me. "Shit!" Someone whacked the button next to my bed and I felt myself being lowered to a flat position. I couldn't really focus on anything other than the pain in my hip. What had happened?

"We got a knife wound, left hip." He had stabbed me, again. "We got a severed vein. OR now!"

I didn't hear anything other than muffled shouts and beeping machines before someone placed a mask over my face and my world went black for the umpteenth time.

I needed to break this cycle.

. . . . . . . .

I blinked slowly as I felt myself being pulled back into the conscious world. "This is getting a little repetitive, don't you think?" I muttered, knowing that there was going to be someone in the room with me.

Sure enough my parents were at my side in seconds, making sure I was okay and generally worry as parents do.

"What happened?" I asked, once they had stopped their fawning for the moment. It was understandable considering what had just happened. "I thought there was supposed to be high security up here. How did he up here?"

"We don't know, sweetheart." My mom ran her fingers through my hair again. "We don't know how he got up here. Everyone has been asked for ID when coming up here and no one has gotten through unchecked. We don't know how he managed to get through."

"We have officers stationed at your door and they are under strict orders not to leave until they have been relieved because unfortunately, the press has gotten wind of what happened." My dad sighed, looking completely defeated. The press? That was something I didn't want to have to deal with. "On a better note, they found James." I felt my jaw drop at my father's words. "He's alive and relatively unharmed. He had a small cut on his arm," I remembered seeing that, "a broken wrist and a small wound to his leg. He was a bit cold and wet when they found him but other than that he's completely fine."

"Thank God." I whispered, my head falling back onto the pillows.

"He wants to see you, actually." My dad looked at me, a contemplative look on his face. "Would you be up for that?"

"Are you kidding?" I asked, my jaw dropping. "Of course!"

"Alright," my dad stood up while my mom remained glued to her seat. She obviously wasn't going to leave me alone again.

My dad returned a few minutes later, James in tow and I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. It was unreal to see my best friend alive and in front of me. Clearly he was thinking the same thing as he took the chair my mother had been sitting. He like me was wearing a very fetching hospital gown but he had sweats on underneath it. Unfortunately, I had knew I had to have a catheter in, considering I had only just woken up from another round of surgery, so I wasn't afforded that luxury.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you, man." I breathed and he laughed, shaking his head.

"I think I do." He sighed, looking at me clearly. "I'm so glad you're alive, Ed."

"You too." I closed my eyes, inhaling slightly. My side was hurting so I couldn't breathe that deeply. I wondered when I could have some more pain meds. I hoped it was soon because my leg was fucking killing me. "I thought you were dead."

"Same here." He said quietly, looking away from me. "I don't know how I managed to get out of that little hole thing. Tyler . . . he died . . . instantly and I know I'm going to need a fuckload of therapy to get past that . . ."

"We all are." I agreed and he nodded, sighing. "Have you seen Lauren?" He nodded.

"She was with that little black haired girl from the house. I can't remember her name."

"Alice." He nodded, recognition flashing in his eyes. "She was the one that got us out. She told us that she wanted to try and find us sooner but we were moving around so much, she couldn't find us. She led us out through a small window in the basement."

"That's the same one I went through." He said quietly, shaking his head. "I don't know how I found it. I was just trying to find a way out from those damn tunnels and hallways and then I'm in this big room. There was an open window and I didn't think. I just climbed. It didn't even cross my mind that he could be out there."

"He was." He looked at me sharply, wanting me to explain. "He was attacking me. Ran a knife into my side and through my leg. That's why I was in here in the first place."

"Lauren told me what happened in the other room." I glanced around, noticing I was in a different room. Obviously it would be. That room would have to be cornered off as a crime scene now. "I can't believe that fucker."

"Well, he's dead now." I sighed heavily and he nodded, not looking as relieved as he probably should have been. "Charlie made sure of that."

"Good ol' Chief Swan." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Who would've thought?"

"It was him that picked us up by the car. He'd been getting his daughter from the airport and they drove down the same way as us. He brought me here. If he hadn't come along, I don't know what would have happened." I looked out of the window. "I owe the Chief a lot. That's twice he's saved my ass now."

"We all owe him." James reached over and rested his hand on my shoulder.

I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face as we sat there. We were both alive and we were going to be okay. In that moment, there was nothing else. I had believed my best friend was dead and thankfully, I had been wrong. He was sat in front of me, a little worse for wear, but on the whole he was alright.

Things might be okay, right?

. . . . . . . . .

_**This was originally going to be one chapter but it got pretty monstrous and there was just too much going on to put into one chapter. You'll see what I mean when I post the concluding chapter tomorrow.**_

_**See you tomorrow.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm so sorry to inform you lovely readers that this is not an update. This isn't twiXlite in fact! It's me Shelby0321! *****waives hand frantically at all you wonderful people**** ***

**My darling friend twi asked me to let you all know that she is down a laptop right now and cant update any of her stories, or answer your messages and reviews! I offered her mine but alas she is an ocean away! (I've seriously considered UPSing {****is that even a word?**** } mine to her. Seriously I need my Edward fix!) But don't you worry she has informed me that she has lots of notebooks**** {she's kickin it old school for the moment****} that she is diligently writing new chappies in! So if you want updates soon, please send money to PO Box..haha just kidding. (well not really if you would like to donate to a wonderful cause…and lets face it folks, Edward Cullen is in fact a wonderful cause!) Okay, so no on the money, but cross your fingers, rub your lucky trolls or do whatever that brings you good fortune so we will have our dear twi back soon! ;-)**

**Please don't review this because then you wont get to review the real chapter once it goes up! And that would just be sad! **

**And don't worry about the Edwards, I'm gonna take good care of them while she's gone. {wink wink}**

**{Edwards gulp and look around nervously} Hurry back twi!**


End file.
